Before playing a selection by Brahms this morning, the WQXR host, Paul Cavalcante, introduced and then played a scene from John Cleese’s show Fawlty Towers, an Owl Chatter favorite. Cleese’s wife had been away, and when she got back to the inn she saw that Cleese had not taken care of any of the things he should have. She said something like, “This place would be in much better shape if you would do something instead of just listening to that racket!” And Cleese says:
Racket!!??
That’s Brahms!!
That’s Brahms’ Third Racket!!
The host went on to say: Here’s the second movement of Brahms’ Third Racket.
Zoey! Shove over, sweetie — make a little room for Cleese in the “makes life worth living” folder.
As you may have heard by now, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last weekend, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles said that “for the good of society, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely—the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.” The audience applauded loudly.
Leaving aside the redundancy of “eradicating entirely,” many in the media couldn’t help but notice it sounded a little “Hitlery.” Knowles was miffed at the comparison and insisted that “eradicating transgenderism” was not the same thing as eradicating transgender people.
Wait, what?
Is it me? Is something in that explanation askew? If Hitler had called for the eradication of “Judaism from public life entirely at every level” that’s okay? Would a Jew be able to relax upon hearing that? Can the parent of a transgender child struggling to cope appreciate the clarification? Red states are passing laws banning established medical procedures that help transgender kids. Is it crazy to view those laws as Hitlery?
Lincoln knew the danger to democracy of setting a portion of the populace aside and branding it as inferior (“preposterous”). Either people are equal, or they are not. “I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it — where will it stop?”
Who better to lead us back to humanity than our favorite baseball announcer Keith Hernandez? Keith was getting some sort of honor last year, and his partner in the booth, Gary Cohen was a bit too generous with his praise, Keith thought. When Cohen finished Keith just said, “Tell that to my ex-wives.” Here are some quotes that may help you get to know him a little bit.
I remember, as a kid, I couldn’t wait to get my library card, get my first book. There was a sphinx on the cover, and I figured I was going to read about the Egyptians. But it was archeology. It was so dry. But I forced myself to read it because it was my first book out of the library. Should have gotten a ‘Hardy Boys.’
When I was little, my older brother, Gary, was forced to read a book a week in fourth grade. The books he liked he threw on my bed when he was finished with them. This continued throughout my childhood and made me a reader for life.
I like to write, and I try to be positive and optimistic. I’m pretty sure when I need a comma; I’m not so sure about a semicolon. The best class I ever took in high school was typing.
In New York, I have a photo of my parents on their wedding day in 1947. They’re beaming at home plate in Houston’s Buffalo Stadium. I love the photo because my dad is smiling. He didn’t smile much in his later years.
This poem is by Robert Bly and is called Things to Think. It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac.
Think in ways you’ve never thought before.
If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a message
Larger than anything you’ve ever heard,
Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.
Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a moose
Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his
antlers
A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.
When someone knocks on the door, think that he’s
about
To give you something large: tell you you’re forgiven,
Or that it’s not necessary to work all the time, or that
it’s
Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.
Special Owl Chatter thanks to friend Don who confirmed that “Mercy” is unquestionably associated with late Boston announcer Ned Martin. It hit him as soon as he saw the word — even before the issue was raised.
The Owl Chatter mailbox was also visited by friend Nancy who noted good-naturedly that the ratio of beautiful women to handsome men in OC is out of whack! I reminded her I recently included The Gill-Man — exactly her type — tall, dark, and fishy.
I was proud of myself for finishing today’s puzzle. Add that to my first “two” in Wordle in a long time, and it makes for a good puzzle day. Look at some of the words I had to get:
3D, HORCRUX: “Bit of dark magic in Harry Potter”
44A, FOVEA: Tiny pit in the retina.
43D, TOONIE: “Coin with a polar bear on its reverse, informally”
11D, CHAGRIN: “Discomfiture.”
13A, COOLIO: “Sweet!”
14A was BRIOCHE for “Patisserie offering,” but someone noted “I’m splitting hairs here, but BRIOCHE would be a Boulangerie offering, not a Patisserie offering.” Okay. Noted.
The central clue/answer was at 33A, “Apt anagram of ‘I sew a hole,’” and the answer was ELIAS HOWE — inventor of the sewing machine.
Only one guest star in the grid today, but she’s very special to some of us. It’s DEBRA Messing, cutely clued with “Messing around on a TV set?”
Debra is 54, Brooklyn-born, and Jewish. She had a bat-mitzvah. Her parents supported her dream of going into acting but urged her to get a liberal arts degree first, and, in college, to take at least 75% of her classes outside of theater. Following their advice she graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University, Owl Chatter’s alma mater. Hurrah!
She met her hubby, actor/writer Dan Zelman, in grad school (NYU) and they had a son, Roman, who will be 19 next month. But the marriage broke up after 11 years.
Messing posed nude for Allure magazine in May of 2012. Debra!! What will Aunt Helen say?? — Bernie! — stop looking at that!!
We asked her to throw some clothes on for Owl Chatter. Thanks for stopping by, Deb — say hi to the family.
See you tomorrow! Israel takes on Nicaragua at noon in the World Baseball Classic. Owl Chatter Sports will be on hand (albeit probably drunk).
The Wellington Files 